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Ecuador's
Astrophoto Equipment
Telescope
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MIZAR
(later exported to the US as TAL-1)
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I use a Russian 4.5" (114mm) f/7.1 Newtonian
telescope since 1991. It features a rigid equatorial mount
but has no clock drive, or any other tracking device. This
means that it can do limited astrophotography (lunar or
manually driven piggyback). I use the following eyepieces
: 25mm Plossl (32x), 15mm Kernel (54x), 4mm Orthoscopic
(204x), plus a 3x Barlow lens. Also color eyepiece filters
help in low contrast targets (like Jupiter's belts). Actually,
this was not my first telescope. I had a small 40mm refractor
with a variable eyepiece (8x-32x) since 1988. Of course,
I don' t quite consider the small refractor as a telescope,
since it is only good for the moon. I still use it though,
as a large focal length telephoto, mostly suitable for the
moon and sun.
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Cameras
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Canon
EOS REBEL
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The EOS REBEL is a special edition of the EOS 1000QD (more
metal - less plastic, no built-in flash). It is an excellent
SLR camera, although not well suited for long exposures, as
it relies completely on battery power. It has an exposure range
of 30sec to 1/2000sec with automatic, programmable or manual
controls. I have used it exclusively from 1992 to 1996, as I
bought the Zenit in 1997 which is better suited for astophotography.
Of course, for shorter exposures, or not astronomical targets
this camera is really good. |
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Zenit
122
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As I wanted a mechanical camera that supports a cable release
I bought this Russian SLR (Jan. '97). It has an exposure range
of only 1/30sec to 1/500sec, but the bulb setting is independent
of battery power. It has the popular M42 "screw" type
lens mount that accepts many manufacturer's lenses, but this
camera is cheap and it started having problems with film loading
after not very much use. |
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Canon
F-1
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Unfortunately my Zenit started having some problems with the
film loading, so I replaced it with a (far better) Canon F-1
(manufactured in 1979). I use an M42/Canon FD adapter to attach
my old lenses to the F-1. The F-1 has an exposure range of 2sec
to 1/2000sec and uses the battery only for the photometer functions.
It also supports multiple exposures and mirror lock-up. Since
I acquired this camera on the summer of 2000, you will not see
any photos taken with the F-1 for a while... |
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Minolta
XD-5
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I recently (2001) got this camera, which is the world's first
multi-mode exposure 35mm SLR (manufactured in 1979). It has
shutter or aperture priority, manual metered mode and X-Sync
at 1/100. The supported exposures are from 1sec to 1/1000sec
(electronic) plus the mechanical B and O (at 1/100).
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Lenses
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For
the Canon EOS:
35-80mm (f/4.5-f/5.6) Canon EOS AF ZOOM lens. (1992)
80-200mm (f/4.5-f/5.6) Canon EOS AF ZOOM lens. (2000)
For
the Canon F1:
28mm (f/2.8) Chinar lens. (2001)
For
the Zenit and F-1 (M42/FD
adapter):
50mm (f/2.8) Praktika lens. (2000)
58mm (f/2) Helios lens. (1997)
300mm (f/4.5) Helios lens. (1997)
For
the Zenit, F-1
(w. M42/FD adapter)
and EOS (w. M42/EOS adapter):
400-1600mm (f/10-f/40) Haley Optical telephoto/telescope.
(1988)
For
the Minolta :
45mm (f/2) Rokkor lens. (2001)
28mm (f/2.8) Soligor lens. (2001)
28-80mm (f/3.9-4.9) Albinar lens. (2001)
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Filters
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49mm:
85A (My favorite - the best for sunsets)
52mm:
UV
58mm:
1A
72mm:
UV-1
Y-1.4
Y-2
YG-2
O-2.8
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